According to local news reports, Hays, 38, and her three children, ages 18, 16, and 14, were asleep inside their Kansas City, Kansas, home when someone fired shots into Hays’ bedroom at around 3:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

The shots quickly killed Hays, who was discovered dead by her children after they called out to her, frightened by the shots. It was Hays' 14-year-old who went into their mother’s room, and found her lying still under the covers.

While Hays' other cousins say they believe they know who took her life, her killer still remains free.